


Christmas Party

by Burgie



Series: Christmas Challenge 2015 [19]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 01:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7598539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stein embarrasses himself at the annual Jorvik Stables Christmas party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Party

Every year, Mr Herman held a kind of staff Christmas party at Jorvik Stables for all the people who worked there. It never really ended well, but it was the thought that counted.

This year seemed like it would be as bad as ever. Stein had just reached the legal drinking age, or maybe he’d just finally decided to man up and drink. Whatever the reason, he was single-handedly keeping the bartender busy.

“Stein, don’t you think you’ve had enough?” asked Johanna. She’d dressed in clothing suitable for the occasion, even weaving some red and green hair ribbons though her braid.

“No,” said Stein, shooting a glare at her. The alcohol had turned his face an alarming shade of red.

“Yes you have,” said Johanna. She frowned at him. “Stein, if you want to be treated like an adult, drinking yourself stupid isn’t the way to go about it.”

“I don’t wanna be treated like an adult,” he snorted. “I just wanna get your attention.” He leaned towards her and nearly fell over.

“Well, mission accomplished, then,” said Johanna with a roll of her eyes.

“No,” said Stein again. He shook his head and then groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.

“No what?” asked Johanna. “C’mon, Stein, you’re being more stupid than usual.”

Stein growled and threw his hands up. “I can never impress you! What do you want, woman? I try to be cool and manly but you just throw it back in my face.”

“Why would you want to impress me?” asked Johanna.

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Stein. “Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!”

Johanna still didn’t know what to say to that the next day. She thought about it while she cleaned up (Stein obviously couldn’t due to his well-deserved hangover), and thought about it some more once everything was done.

Stein finally emerged, squinting in the sunlight and generally sounding like a zombie.

“Good evening,” said Johanna. When all else failed, at least her snark came to the rescue.

Stein groaned and shooed her away. “Go away.”

Johanna only smiled at him. This was a far cry from the man who’d been guzzling alcohol just last night.

“What do you remember of last night?” she asked.

“Ugh,” Stein grunted. “Music, drinking, I think I… oh, stars.” Now he blushed, and Johanna laughed.

“We can forget it if you want,” said Johanna. “You were drunk, you probably didn’t mean it.”

“Actually, I did,” said Stein. He kicked a clod of dirt with his foot.

“Oh.” Johanna blinked, stunned. That was unexpected.

“Yeah.” Stein chuckled. “You probably think I’m crazy now. I mean, I hate you. You hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Stein,” said Johanna. “I just don’t like the way you act. Clean yourself up and come back to normal and we can talk about this.”

“There is a ‘this’?” asked Stein. “That didn’t sound right even to me.”

“Heh heh, yeah,” said Johanna. “While you pull yourself together, I have to clean this up. Don’t you worry about doing anything, Mr Herman said that you can have the day off to recover.”

“Remind me to thank him later,” said Stein. With that, he walked back into the stable house. Johanna returned to picking up Christmas decorations, her mind once more returning to the prickly topic of Stein.


End file.
